04 January 2008

The other day I was looking at the new titles in my local Redbox DVD rental vending machine, and for a second was surprised to see they had the less than great Bee Movie (which was made mostly to cash in on a clever title). Well, turns out Jerry Seinfeld isn't the only game in town when it comes to Bee puns.

Plan Bee looks to cash in on confused or uninformed moms looking to satiate their young one's unquenchable thirst for CG bug movies. Who knows, maybe Plan Bee is better. With a tagline like "The Sting is in the tale," its gotta be good! Riiiiiiiiight... It just so happens that there is a whole world of shameless knock offs out there that make The Wild look like Shakespeare.

Reader J pointed me to a couple of other modern classics: Ratatoing and The Little Cars. Nice find J. Turns out the Little Cars even mustered a sequel. All of a sudden Dreamworks doesnt seem so bad. Maybe I should try and make a quick buck. The Incredibleitos? Shek? WALL-F? There are endless possibilities.

03 January 2008

The Players: Steven Spielberg (coming off of the Kubrickian AI), Tom Cruise, and Daredevil's Bullseye. Based on a short story by Philip K Dick (Total Recall, Paycheck, Blade Runner).

The Take: $132 million

Are There Lots of Minorities in this Movie?: Not so many. There are three drug babies that can see the future and prevent murders. Sometimes, one of the three disagrees with the other two thus producing a "minority report."

Why you should see it: The movie has an interesting premise. Just because you are stopped from committing murder, does that mean you aren't a murderer? Can you be convicted of something you were going to do? Not only is the movie thought provoking, but it has an interesting take on the future, where optical scanners are everywhere, and identity theft involves ocular transplants. Also, coming off of his work on AI, this movie has a strong visual influence from Kubrick, though a better ending than AI (please blue fairy, please...) Truly a great and intense movie with good performances by all involved.

01 January 2008

Iron Man has gone from a jump on the bandwagon superhero movie to looking like it may be a quintessential superhero movie. We could be in the dawn of an all new Iron Age as this film has done one thing right after another blowing away fans with casting, pictures, and trailers. Now all they have to do is nail the movie. :) Check out the trailer.

#4 WALL-E

Though Ratatouille was on my list last year, i didn't expect that the sorta generic premise would rival The Incredibles in greatness. Well, Pixar is on a roll and WALL-E should keep the momentum going. The movie looks like something completely new, and hopefully it gets the box office to match its quality. Here is the trailer.

#3 Star Trek

This most likely will not be my 3rd favorite of the year, but I am anxious to see the future of the Trek franchise. Will this be a bold new beginning ushering in a new (good) series, or another nail in the dying franchise's coffin. JJ Abrahms did a great job with MI 3, and Lost is awesome, but what will he do with Trek Classic? I can't wait to find out.

#2 Indiana Jones IV: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I remember when Temple of Doom came out and I was too young to go because of some heart ripping shenanigans. Well, mom and dad can't keep me home from Indy 4. This chapter is long overdue, and a movie that I never expected would get made, but it will be good to see Harrison Ford in a decent film again (hopefully). As long as Lucas doesn't have a Jar-Jar in this movie, it should be great. When do we get a trailer!?

#1 The Dark Knight

Batman Begins gets better each time I see it (though I always wince at the "nice coat" line) and I couldn't be more excited to see Batman take on a Joker that isn't a fat old man that listens to Prince. Chris Nolan is an amazing director, and this movie could be The Batman movie for years to come. Check out the embedded 5 minute opening of the film below to see a chilling introduction of the murderous mastermind The Joker.

31 December 2007

'08 should be a good year for geeks at the movie theater. Here are my top 10 most anticipated movies of next year. You can also reminisce with a look at my anticipated of '07 right here. And come back tomorrow for the top 5, or try and guess them today.

#10 The Chronicales of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe brought good production value to a live action adaptation of the most famous Narnia tale. Overall, the film was pretty well done and it will be nice to see the story continue with the less well known books. The trailer for this looks promising and Prince Caspian should hold me over until Dawn Treader.

#9 The Incredible Hulk

I actually enjoyed 2003's Hulk (which coincidentaly came out on the day I got married) especially Hulk thrashing desert tanks and choppers. I liked the build up, but I must admit, the end was lame. Still, I wont mind a poodleless, mindless follow-up with a better villain than Nick Nolte's "cloud monster."

#8 Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

Hellboy was a pretty entertaining film with bizzare baddies like the wind-up ninja and helldogs. In this sequel, there is some new ally wearing a dive suit, and Hellboy fights the tooth fairy. This should be a fun movie that could outshine the first. Check out the trailer.

#7 Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

This one might rank higher if I had more to go on than this single generic image from the movie. This was my favorite book of the series, so I hope they do it justice.

#6 Bond 22

This movie is all set to film, but it doesn't have an official title yet. With Casino Royale being many people's pick for best Bond movie ever, the follow up has big shoes to fill. I have high hopes, but even if it doesn't match Casino, it will surely still be better than Never Say Never Again.